


A minor Inconvenience

by DawnsEternalLight



Series: Comfortember 2020 [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Comfortember, Crying, Damian Wayne - Freeform, Dick Grayson - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Kidnapping, extra characters include:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight
Summary: Jason was supposed to be keeping Tim from getting kidnapped. Somehow, that ended in both of them tied up in an old garden shed.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Comfortember 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000227
Comments: 9
Kudos: 222





	A minor Inconvenience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Batbirdies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batbirdies/gifts).



> My super late fic for Comfortember day 10: Crying 
> 
> BB I hope you enjoy it <3

Jason groaned, and shifted again, trying his best to get a little room between his back and the bottom of the rake that he’d been shoved up against when he’d been tied to this stupid workbench. It’s ends were poking painfully into his back in a line and he just wanted to breathe deeply without prongs poking him. 

His task was made hard by the fact that the goons who’d tossed them in this shed had not only tied Jason’s wrists to the standing workbench above him, but they’d lashed his arms to the leg he’d been pressed up against too, meaning he didn’t have much slack to move. He had to give it to the guys, they’d definitely made sure it would be hard for him to escape. 

But then again, they hadn’t counted on the tenacity of the Red Hood, or the fact that they’d left a screwdriver just close enough to the edge of the bench Jason’s fingers could reach it. 

He scooted forward, using his feet to pull him away from it just enough so that the blunt metal ends were only grazing his jacket. This time when he sucked in air, nothing pressed bruisingly into a rib. 

That was great, since his ribs were probably bruised black and blue all the way around him. They felt like they were, and Jason couldn’t blame them. Being kicked down a flight of concrete stairs would do that to a guy. He was just lucky he hadn’t broken his neck or cracked his skull open. He had his helmet to thank for the latter and pure luck for the former. Too bad he didn’t have his helmet with him anymore either.

Tim, hadn’t been so lucky. 

Jason had to swallow back some guilt as he craned his head to check on his brother. Tim, not Red Robin, or any version of Robin, sat slumped against the opposite wall. His arms were hoisted above his head, hands in cuffs whose links had been looped over a hook high enough to make things uncomfortable for him. Still, that wasn’t what worried Jason. What had him trying to saw through his ropes with a screwdriver like a madman was the fact that blood was still trickling down the side of Tim’s head, and the ugly way his leg was still twisted from his own fall. 

He adjusted his grip on the screwdriver and continued using the flat edge as a sort of saw against the ropes around his wrists. If he could get those to snap, he could get the rest of them untied, and make sure Tim was going to be okay. 

“Hey, Tim, you alive over there?” he asked, keeping his voice down. 

He wasn’t sure who might be standing guard outside the shed they’d been locked in, or if anyone even was out there. He did know it was nowhere near soundproof. He’d heard as much as the guys had left them, crowing about the ransom they’d get from Bruce for Tim, and what they were going to do to Red Hood later. 

Jason hadn’t liked the sound of either of those plans. Which was another reason he was so eager to get free and enact his cobbled together escape plan. 

Tim didn’t even groan. And the way his head was tucked into his chest, Jason couldn’t get a good look at his face. The kid really needed a haircut, especially when it kept worried brothers from getting a look at his status from across a room. Which was a more frequent problem than any of them wanted it to be. 

He wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been digging and sawing at the ropes, but his hand was aching in that way it did whenever he overworked it, and his legs were getting really tired of the pressure he had on them to keep him away from that stupid rake. 

Who put rakes under a table anyway? 

At last, he felt the rope give, and start to slip away. Jason tugged at his wrists and pulled them out, now able to bend his arms and wiggle them just a bit. It took some finagling, but sooner than it had taken with the initial ropes, Jason was free. 

He tumbled forward, far away from the traitorous rake. After a moment, Jason pushed himself to his feet, his legs a little tingly from being in roughly the same position for so long. 

“Tim?” Jason asked again, creeping towards his brother, careful not to step on discarded wire or a dustbin someone had just left on the ground. 

Once he’d reached his brother he knelt in front of him, brushing hair back to reveal a too pale face. 

“Come on,.” Jason murmured, “Getting you out of here will be much easier with you conscious.” 

He brushed his fingers under Tim’s chin and found a strong pulse there, which was comforting. His breathing seemed okay enough for being partially strung up a couple hours after he too had fallen down some stairs. 

Jason winced at the memory. He’d been on guard Tim Drake duty after Robin had heard rumors of someone planning to kidnap Tim for a quick buck. They’d been shifting who followed Tim around daily for almost a week now. Until Tim had been cornered right outside the public library just after sunset --of all places-- Jason had been convinced Damian had made it up as a prank.

His intervention had been clumsy at best. Tim hadn’t had many options for defending himself as a civilian especially with so many people around. While Jason had initially surprised a couple of the kidnappers, one had managed to land a kick that had sent Jason spiraling, right into Tim. They’d both ended up tumbling down the library steps, with Jason doing his best to try to shield his brother. 

He shook Tim’s shoulder and at last the boy groaned. 

“There you are.” Jason cheered, “You just work on waking up and I’ll get you out of those cuffs.” 

Jason turned and grabbed a couple of the more sturdy pieces of wire that were floating around the shed and started bending them, one into a tension wrench, and the other into a proper pick. After he got his tools ready, he lifted Tim’s arms and helped him drop them in his lap. At this point, his brother was blinking blearily at him, not quite focused, but at least Jason could see his blue eyes. 

He got the cuffs off his brother’s wrists and sat back on his heels.

“You here with me yet, Timmers?”

Tim raised his hands to blink at them, after a moment he looked up and nodded, “I think so.” his words were a bit slurred. 

“I’m going to look you over, then figure out how to get us out of here, alright?” 

His brother nodded, then winced, “Head hurts.” He said, voice quiet. 

Jason hummed, “Yeah, you’re bleeding pretty badly there.”

As quickly and gently as he could, Jason felt around Tim’s head and poked at his arms, chest and good leg to examine him for further injuries. Beyond the massive goose egg and some bruising he was in better shape than Jason had hoped. 

His broken leg, however, was not looking so great. 

“I’m probably going to have to stabilize that before I can drag you out of here.” Jason told him. 

Tim looked down at his leg and blanched, “Yeah.” he swallowed, “Yeah, that sounds right.” 

He left Tim sitting there, glancing to and from his leg like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to acknowledge its existence or not. Jason picked his way around the shed, and collected some shorter planks of wood, probably saved after a project, and more wire. There wasn’t any rope or string which Jason would have preferred for the makeshift splint, but sometimes you just had to improvise. 

By the time he’d collected what he needed and knelt before Tim again, his brother was looking really pale. 

“Hey.” Jason said, frowning, “You good?”

He shook his head, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Care to explain what’s wrong?”

Tim shot him a glare.

Jason held both hands up, “Stupid question, I got it. Listen I know you feel crappy, but unless you somehow managed to call B and let him know where we are, you and I need to get out of here soon. Those guys aren’t very friendly towards me, and I doubt they’re interested in sending you back home.” 

He also didn’t want to sit here all night, which was  _ at least _ how long they’d both be stuck waiting on a ransom from Bruce. If not longer. 

“Alright, I’m going to splint your leg. Think you need something to bite down on?” Jason asked. 

“No.” Tim shook his head, “Just be fast.” 

Jason did his best to follow Tim’s direction and work quickly, but he also was trying to be gentle and those two things did not pair well together. He helped Tim straighten his leg, and tried not to let his brother’s hissed swears make him stop. He had to keep his head down, and attention focused as Tim’s hisses turned to whimpers, and at one point he even tried to yank his leg away from Jason.

“Almost there.” Jason said, “Just hold on a couple more seconds.” 

Only when he was done, and shifted away, did Jason look up. Tim was pressed back into the wall, his face turned up, and away from his leg, with his lips pressed so tightly in a line they’d almost disappeared. Jason watched as he took in a series of deep breaths, trying to still the way his shoulders shook. 

“Sorry, I know that sucked.” Jason said, “but it’s done, and no matter what your leg is at the very least not going to get any worse.” 

Tim coughed out a laugh that almost sounded like a sob, “Yeah.”

Jason reached to squeeze one of Tim’s hands, “Catch your breath. I’m going to check the door and see what we can do about escaping.” 

The doorknob turned, but the moment he put pressure on it,he felt it catch. Locked. 

There was a window in the shed, covered by a sun bleached curtain that Jason teased back to peer out of. To say he was disappointed by seeing bars hooked on the outside of the window was an understatement. He’d thought that if he couldn’t get the door open, he could reach out and unlock whatever lock was on it, then get both himself and Tim free. The bars made that impossible. They were too close for Jason to even hope of getting his arm out far enough from. 

He could just make out two figures standing close enough to the shed it was obvious they were on guard. 

Satisfied though unhappy with his discoveries, he stepped away from the window and paced the room. There were no other exits or windows, and after applying some pressure to the wood he found it to be sturdy. Unkempt as the inside was, the building had been made to last. 

“So?” Tim asked. 

Jason flopped down onto the concrete, and huffed, “We’re stuck until someone opens the door. I really didn’t want to have to fight anyone else today.” 

Tim snorted, “Could you even call earlier fighting?”

“Hey!” Jason said, letting his mouth drop open in surprise, “It’s not my fault you picked a steep set of stairs to get kidnapped off of.”

“You did get me hooked on Percy Jackson.”

“It’s a great series, and eventually I will get Big Bird to read it.”

“Not the point.” Tim said, chuckling lightly. 

He was looking a little better now that he’d been sitting for a few minutes, and bantering. Still, Jason had to tamp down the urge to fret over him. It was dumb, but He was concerend, and that made him act more like Dick or Bruce than he cared to admit. 

Instead he waved a hand arily, “I doubt you were there for one of those. Damian’s got a full set you could swipe. So, again. Not my fault.” 

Tim looked like he was going to respond, and instead winced. Jason shot forward, leaning close to him, scanning him for any signs of something getting worse.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just my chest.” 

His brother tried to wave him off, but Jason stayed still for a long moment, eyes narrowed at him. He had his fair share of aches, but Tim hadn’t been wearing any armor at all when he’d fallen. 

“I’m fine, Jason.”

“Red Hood.” Jason corrected, just in case someone was listening in, which he doubted. 

Tim rolled his eyes and let his head flop back against the wall, wincing as he did. 

They sat there so long, Jason felt cold creeping in under the door. The cold was one of the reason’s Jason had wanted to escape sooner rather than later. With nothing to do, they were essentially stuck in an unheated shed for the near future. And as night dragged on the temperature was only going to drop. 

“I kind of wish you did have time to get a book before getting nabbed.” Jason said, dropping his vision from the doorframe he’d been zoning out at back to Tim. 

The next words on his lips died as he got a good look at his brother. Tim was shivering so badly, Jason was surprised he wasn’t rattling equipment hung along the wall. He’d wrapped his arms around his chest, and had his chin almost tucked into them. Added to the shivering Jason could hear small sobs. 

“Hey,” Jason scooted a bit closer to him, “It’ll be alright. I know I messed up earlier, but I’m going to get you out of here and back home, Tim. I promise.” 

Tim sniffed, and shook his head, “‘snot that.” He muttered, voice thick, “I’m just--Tonight sucks.” 

Jason decided to give Tim some time to provide him with a few more details. He shrugged off his own coat, and reached forward to wrap it around Tim’s shoulders. 

His brother tugged it close and sniffed again. 

“You know, that thin shirt isn’t doing you any favors.” Jason chided, hoping to distract him. 

“What about you?” Tim asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m not stick thin and stupid enough to wander out in Gotham in a long-sleeved tee.” 

“You’re in short sleeves now.” Tim pointed out with a frown. 

Jason shrugged, “But I have more muscle mass. And capes make everything better.”

Tim frowned at him, “Capes?” 

“Coats! I meant coats.” Jason corrected, “I just, Bruce’s cape’s what I think of when I think warmth in a situation like this.” 

Tim nodded, but he hadn’t quite managed to stop crying yet. He hiccuped and pulled his good leg forward, “You ever have just a really crappy day for no reason and then something else happens and it’s like that last little push?”

“I’d say getting kidnapped isn’t little.” Jason told him, “But yeah.”

“No, that’s part of the crappy day.” Tim sighed, “I just feel dumb. I was already having a bad brain day, and then I yelled at Damian before I left because I thought he’d made this wole stupid thing up, and now here we are.”

Jason hummed, “What was the little thing?” 

“The cold.” Tim said, “Like, I can take everything else but when the shivering set in my leg hurt worse and--” tears overflowed his eyes again and he squeezed them shut to drop his face against his raised knee, “It just sucks.” 

And wasn’t all that just exactly how it went sometimes. Jason could relate in so many ways to being set off by a crappy day topped off by the cherry of inconvenience. Granted, it didn’t usually come with kidnappings and broken legs, but sometimes it did.

He scooted over so he was closer to Tim and gently tugged him into his side. 

“I’ll tell you a secret, I totally thought the gremlin was making it all up too.” 

Tim snorted, surprised by the revelation, “Really?”

“Of course. It’d be just like him to think a good prank would be to set us all on edge.”

His brother leaned into him, snuggling into the warmth, “We really need to teach him what real pranks are.” 

“You’re telling me you didn’t like it when he hired me to kidnap you that one time?”

“No. I did not. I had a test the next day.”

Jason chuckled, “I remember. You spent the whole time complaining about it.” 

He swung an arm around Tim to keep him close and add warmth to his other side, “Didn’t you get Damian back pretty good for that one?” 

“Yeah, I dyed all his Robin uniforms various shades of pink. It took two weeks to get a new one in, and even after that he had to wear pink from time to time.” 

Tim had settled down at this point, and when Jason glanced at him he looked more tired than anything. It probably wasn’t a great move to be seated like this, but Jason was loath to move him and add to the cold still warming its way through fabric. 

Silence fell for a while, and Jason thought Tim might be nodding off again, something he wasn’t keen on letting happen while the kid had an unchecked concussion. 

“Alright, Timbert, I’ve got to know.” Jason said, “Who’ll show up first? The bad guys? Batman? Maybe the gremlin himself?”

Tim groaned, “Not Damian. I don’t want him crowing about how he was right.”

“He was right.”

“Shut up, Jason.” 

Jason chuckled. There wasn’t any heat in Tim’s statement, just exhaustion. For his part, he didn’t care who showed up, just as long as someone did. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he didn’t want to fight. His head might not be throbbing the same way Tim’s was, but that didn’t mean Jason felt any better. 

His chest ached. And he was pretty sure at this point he’d dug his shoulder into something on the way down those steps because it was throbbing too. Not terribly, but just threatening to be something bad if he had to throw a single punch. And Tim was right. He was cold in short sleeves. 

When there was the sound of metal scraping metal at the door, Jason detangled himself from his brother, reached back to snatch the offending rake from earlier, then stood. He moved in front of Tim, rake at the ready to take down the first thug through the door. 

It swung open, and Jason charged, right past Nightwing, who’d jumped back, and out of the way. While moving he caught both Damian and Tim yelling.

“What in the world, Hood!”

And.

“Jay it’s Dick!” 

He froze, and spun, blinking at both their rescuers. Damian had his arms crossed and was scowling, while Dick was grinning ear to ear.

“Good to know you were ready to defend Tim this time.”

“Listen--” Jason started then shook his head, “You know what no. Timberly in there needs a doctor and I need a coat.”

Dick motioned to his uniform which very clearly did not come with a coat. 

Jason scowled at him, “Batman at least has a cape, how come he didn’t rescue us?” 

Dick snorted, “B’s in the house, punching kidnappers. Robin, help Red Hood out. I’m going to get Tim.”

Damian’s scowl turned into a grin of his own, and he unclipped his cape, “Here, so you do not freeze to death before we get to the car.”

Jason snatched it from Damian’s hand and tossed it around his shoulders. It was comically small on him, but blessedly warm at the same time, still touched by some of the kid’s residual body heat. 

“So B got to punch kidnappers while you guys had to do the rescuing eh?” Jason asked. 

Robin shrugged, “He believed there would be more protection out here than a lock.” 

Jason realized then that the guards from earlier had disappeared. He also took the chance to get a good look at where they’d been kept. They’d been in the garden shed set right outside a huge house. It wasn’t Wayne Manor standards, but it was big enough Jason was surprised. 

“They had guards out here a couple hours ago.” he said, “So who exactly were the perps?” 

“A business man and hired goons. He’d embezzled and was looking for a quick fix to his problem.”

“Huh, makes sense.” 

He turned back to the shed to find Dick helping Tim hobble out, he was leaned heavily into Nightwing, with one of his arms pulled across his shoulders. The kid looked exhausted. Jason hurried over to take up Tim’s other side and carry some of his weight. 

“Aww, now isn’t this a proper rescue.” Jason grinned. “Much better than Dick storming into my apartment angry that you’d called--” 

“I will end you, Jason.” Tim said, “And I will start by sharing your camera roll full of duck faced selfies with everyone,  _ including Bruce _ .”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there, let’s not be too hasty.”

“Then do not finish that sentence.” 

“Deal.” Jason looked over at Dick, “Why don’t we all head home, it’s been a pretty crappy day, and I’d love to fall into a bed right about now.”

“That sounds amazing.” Tim said, “Please tell me you brought the car.”

“We did bring the car.” Dick said, “Though bed might have to wait until after Alfred’s looked you both over. I heard you took a tumble down some rather steep stairs.”


End file.
